Teaching your daughters to gamble
 

A man takes his six-year-old and four-year-old to the Fairgrounds. Really cute article:

http://www.slate.com/id/2161643?nav=tap3

So great. My root as a horseplayer was the same. My mom taking us to the track and me loving it so many times more than my brother, and each day she would let us make three bets. Mine were always to show on a horse I liked.

I grew up on the backside of a racetrack. And I am not ashamed to say that in kindergarden I could read a racing form. :D In the 2nd grade I begged and begged my mom to bet an exacta on two horses that I loved. I mean I used to sneak down to their barn and groom them when I was supposed to be down at our barn doing things for mom. My mom said ok, and bet me a $2 exacta on Scooby Doo and a horse named "Jet" (cant remember his "real" name and the exacta paid over $250. My dad thought it was the funniest thing, and asked my why I made sure my mom put Jet on top of Scooby Doo and I told him something to the affect of, "Scooby Doo told me he could beat all of the horses in the race but he couldnt beat Jet". I guess you can say that is when I got hooked on capping!

i took my daugher to the track a couple years ago--and made some bets that she whispered in my ear. i got some frowns from some people for that one. she's a teen--but not 18. i didn't think i did wrong--but according to some i guess she's scarred for life.

Yet another reason why I shouldn't have kids. I've toyed with the idea of adopting a very small child and making a jockey out of them.

I have taken my boys to the races many times. Initially they would ask me which horse I would be voting on. Later they would want me ask me to vote on a horse for them.

My girls, 5 and 3 have literally been going to the track since they were infants. My oldest has been to CRC, GP (pre renovation), and Saratoga. My youngest only Saratoga. They both have grown up at Tampa Bay Downs. They are greeted by the employees and security there like the regulars they are.

They both learned their colors from saddle cloths in the post parade. My oldest learned her number recognition from the racing form (pony papers as she calls them) and we are working on her reading skills by attempting horse names in the form.

They both fight over who gets to go with Daddy to bet. They come right up to the machines with me. They get to push the print button, return voucher button, grab the tickets and are thrilled.

Horses are a huge part of their life and they get to experience a lot more than other kids their age.

LOL Bigs....the perfect Dad.

Who would have thought that going to a racetrack would provide developmentally appropriate activities for a early childhood program? I'm going to include this in our lesson planning.

last year, when my son was in kindergarten, they had "mystery reader" days when a parent, grandparent, sibling etc. of a student would come in and read to the kids.
I volunteered to do it then when I got there, started to wonder, should I have brought my own book, or may I use one from the classroom. All I had in the car to read was the Form so I could see me sitting down in the "special guest rocking chair" and beginning "Once upon a time, there was a first time gelding who could...all he needed was those blinkers..." Luckily, I was early and ducked into the library to grab a book. Of course my son, who is quite familiar with racing terminology and PP's would not have batted an eye. I can imagine the faces on the parents of the other kids when they went home and said, "Some lady came in and read us the Racing Form!"

speaking of jockey, i tried to get my daughter interested in this at a young age, but she was not an early person. as she was growing up i could see that she would be right size for a jockey. her weight was only 85 pounds. so that would not be a problem, it was getting her wanting to get up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. today her weight is only 100 pounds, but still no interest in becoming a jockey.

My son is 7 and he's taller than most of the pinheads in the jocks room, smarter too.

Force her to get up!!! :D

well its a little to late for that now. she is 28 and on her own now.

i look at it this way. you are SPENDING TIME with YOUR KIDS.
you didn't drop them off for someone else to watch, they are not roaming the streets. if the kids get a kick outta it, whats it hurt? some have learned to read,count or their colors.
MAYBE the kids like it enough to get into the industry in the future.
it's not such a bad thing, there are a WHOLE lot worse. JMO.......:cool:

The first trip I had to the track, I was 16 years old, and went with a buddy, his father, and his grandfather. It was really cool to see how they all went together every year, and nice that they included me in their trip.

Funny thing, though, was that my friend's dad was my high school principal at the time, but we just looked at it as a bunch of friends going. He let us take $30 each, and limited us to that much money, and we had a good time.

Too bad I couldn't have learned my lesson and limited my wagering to only $30/day!!!

ALostTexan

Poor parenting on your part:)